1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to presentation of media content.
2. Background Art
To watch their favorite video programs in the past, consumers needed to read up on broadcast schedules and make room in their schedules to be at the television, or otherwise needed to program their unwieldy videocassette recorder, oftentimes an obtuse and confusing process. Today, however, consumers are largely free from the constraints of broadcast schedules by using media devices such as digital video recorders (DVRs), video streaming set-top boxes, media enabled videogame consoles, and home theater personal computers (HTPCs). Through user-friendly and convenient features such as on-screen programming guides, time shifting, and on-demand Internet streaming, these smart media devices provide new ways to access video media at the convenience of the consumer. For example, with the push of a button, an entire season of the consumer's favorite broadcast program can be automatically recorded for future viewing at any convenient time.
Unfortunately, many of these media devices also feature functionality that undermine the financial foundations for providing high quality programming at reasonable or zero cost for the consumer. More specifically, these media devices may often be equipped with functionality which automatically or manually bypass commercials and other forms of advertising. For example, media devices may be equipped with various trick mode playback features such as fast forwarding, frame skipping, and time shifting, which can be used to shorten or skip advertisements.
However, advertising often remains the only acceptable financing model between consumers desiring low cost yet high quality programming and content producers providing that high quality programming under budget constraints. This financing model is severely undermined when audiences never see the advertisements that advertisers have duly paid for. To facilitate the continued financial viability of sponsored video programming accessible to the widest viewing audience, new advertising solutions must be formulated to fairly compensate advertiser sponsorship and at the same time be acceptable to consumers who have grown accustomed to DVR functionalities.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a way to present advertisements to audiences despite the built-in functionalities of modern media devices.